Neverness to Everness (NTE) gives Perfect World a clear opportunity: prove that it can still build a global live-service hit.

The new free-to-play urban open-world RPG, developed by Hotta Studio, launched globally on April 29, 2026, for PlayStation 5, PC, Android and iOS. The game arrives with cross-platform progression, gacha mechanics, a large city setting, driving, mini-games and a supernatural anime identity. It is not a small release. It is Perfect World’s attempt to return to the center of the global gacha market.

The question is simple. Will NTE become another Tower of Fantasy-style case, strong at launch but weaker over time, or can it become a durable financial asset?

NTE is launching into a harder market

The global anime RPG market is no longer empty. HoYoverse built a dominant position with Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, but it no longer defines the category alone. Wuthering Waves has raised competition in open-world action RPGs, while Arknights: Endfield and other high-budget anime-style projects show that more studios now see this market as a serious global business opportunity.

Players now expect high production value, polished combat, strong character design and constant content updates. A good launch is no longer enough. New games must prove they can keep players engaged after the first wave of attention fades.

NTE enters that market with one advantage. It looks different. Instead of another fantasy world, it uses a modern urban setting. The game leans into city life, vehicles, apartments, anomalies and daily-world systems. That could help it stand apart from fantasy-heavy competitors.

But that also raises costs. Urban open-world games need density, believable movement, side activities and technical stability. If the city feels empty, players will notice fast.

Tower of Fantasy is the warning sign

Hotta Studio already has experience with this problem.

Tower of Fantasy did not disappear. It built an audience, generated revenue and showed that Chinese developers outside HoYoverse could compete globally. But it also struggled to maintain the same level of attention after launch. That matters because live-service games are not judged only by launch downloads. They are judged by retention, spending and update discipline.

Perfect World’s own financial background adds pressure. In 2023, the company reported CNY 7.79 billion in operating income, but net profit attributable to shareholders fell 64.31% to CNY 491 million. Its gaming business remained the core revenue source, yet gaming-sector revenue declined 7.91%, with lower profit contribution from older titles as they moved through their natural life cycle.

That is the business problem NTE must solve. Perfect World does not only need hype. It needs a game that keeps paying.

The financial upside is real

NTE still has a real chance to become a hit.

The game has the right commercial structure. It is free-to-play. It uses gacha mechanics. It launches across mobile, PC and PS5. It supports cross-platform progression. That gives it access to the highest-value parts of the modern gaming economy: mobile spending, PC engagement and console visibility.

Pre-registration numbers also suggest interest. TechRadar reported that more than 25 million users had pre-registered before launch, with rewards tied to further milestones. That does not guarantee revenue, but it shows that Perfect World has built awareness before release.

The early financial test will be simple: conversion. Can NTE turn curiosity into daily users, and daily users into paying users?

The risk is retention

The flop risk does not come from lack of attention. It comes from the weeks after launch.

If combat feels repetitive, if gacha rates feel harsh, if the city systems feel shallow, or if updates arrive too slowly, players will move back to stronger live-service ecosystems. That is the biggest threat.

NTE also needs to avoid looking like a “Genshin alternative” without offering a stronger reason to stay. Players already have choices. A new gacha game must earn time, not just downloads.

Verdict

NTE is not positioned like a low-confidence release. It has platform reach, strong visuals, a clear urban identity and enough pre-launch attention to give Perfect World a serious opening.

But the market will not reward potential for long. Tower of Fantasy showed that launch momentum can fade if a game fails to build durable trust. NTE must prove that Hotta Studio has learned from that cycle.

For Perfect World, this is more than a game launch. It is a test of whether the company can turn high-cost anime open worlds into long-term revenue again.